I got pretty upset in highschool economics when I was reading the chapter about different types of economies. It had pros and cons listed for each one. I got to the end of the chapter and was reading about the pros of a free-market economy, turned the page and...chapters over. No cons at all. Huh. I assume a college economics class would have been only slightly less infuriating.

I think being uncomfortable with a word like witch and being "thought police" are two very very different things. To me, using a gender specific insult does insult the entire gender. It's reinforcing stereotypes about women(in this case). You would never call a man a "witch".

From this perspective, Femen can be seen as extremely condescending and insulting to the intelligence and autonomy of women who choose to follow certain religious or cultural practices. I'm curious why that link is being downvoted...

I acknowledge the existence of misandry but this, to me, sums up the number one and most important reason I consider myself a feminist. I can handle people doubting my intelligence, pigeonholing me, stereotyping me, even verbally insulting me. I just don't want to have to worry about getting fucking attacked every time I go outside.

More emphasis is put on women's oppression because, historically, women are the group that has been oppressed. I don't think this has to exclude individual instances of abuse towards men, but overall, the struggle for equal rights between genders has to start with giving women the same position in society as men. I don't think we are there yet. Some feminists do ignore discrimination towards men, but I don't think it is as deeply ingrained in feminism as some men's right advocates make it seem.

I agree! It's so frustrating to see feminism interpreted as "women's rights" when, to me, it has always meant fighting for equality between men and women. There is no need to break it up into men's and women's rights.

Isn't that the most frustrating thing? It leads to so many hypothetical arguments. Does knowing that men hurt women worse but women hurt men more etc etc really help anyone of either gender who is in abusive relationships?